Cummins vs. Cat

i have a cat b and e,both have done me well,but your motor is only as good as you care for it.if you watch your gauges and do preventive maintenance,then it'll stand the test of time.

 

Yellow for me!!! I think the ISX get's better milage, but everyone I know with an ISX with EGR has problems with it.

 

I have never had a truck, but I had two cat 3208 N/A engines in my boat. In over 8 years, they never had one issue. They were made in 1985. Loved them!

 

We had 3208's in an Ag application(floater trucks) & both decided they had enough between 2100 & 2200 hours. One was in a 1991 & the other a 1997. They both ran strong all the way up to that point, we were not taking oil samples back then. Obvious lesson learned the hard way.

 

Do have a question though...was just going through Craigslist & found two trucks for sale, an '03 in IL/'04 in GA. Both have ISX's in & both were overhauled around 500,000 miles+/-. Completely different trucks/owners, but makes you wonder what the heck happened? Awful early timeline for complete overhaul isn't it?

 

neither my vote is a detroit 60 series my 96 western star had 800,000 plus on it when I traded it in never had any problems with the motor changed the oil every 12,000 miles also put a gallon of lucas in every oil change.got over 7 mpg ran with guys that had 475 cats stayed right with them had a 470.also there cheaper to rebuild and easier to work on changed my water pump in less than 2 hours in the dark try doing that on a cat.As far as power go on pittsburgh powers website and check out the freightliner.cats and cumaparts are way overhyped in less your talking about the 3406b or the big cam 400.c-15,isx are junk no fuel mileage and always in the shop
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poppapump1332

Would you say a truck with 890,000 miles on it, getting 6.1 -6.5 mpg at 70 mph, and 85,000 lbs gross actually 86,500 with full tanks now i think about it with lots of slow downs for turns and 8 Stop signs good or bad milage on a 475 isx ?

 

Id say your one of the few fortunate ones all you have to do is read these forums and see all the problems people are having with the isx.I made the mistake of trading my star in for a 3406e 550 pete sure it pulled a little better about 5mph on hills but my fuel mileage dropped to 5.5mpg.I know detroit isnt the cool thing but Ill take a ddec3 or 4 anyday over a cat or cummins.86,500 thats a light load put some weight on that wagon haha

 

I've been here awhile and no cummins had some early prob with egr as cat did but cummins got them ironed out alot sooner than cat did. And if your here awhile longer than you have been you will also see a trend towards about 1-1.5 mpg better than cat gets on average.Cummins pulling power a little less than cat on average some say no some say yes.

Personally I know cats pull a little stronger and shift a little easier and will lug to lower rpms. Cummins a little to a lot cheaper to maintain.

And another thing for christ sake,,,cat is short for catapillar not feline and catapillars dont meow or purrrr or use cat-nip! LOL

 

I will say one thing my buddy had an n-14 460 when I had my detroit 470 and I could not keep up with him swear his truck was set at 525 but he said it wasnt dont know if i believed him though.as far as mpg we agree on that cats at least the 3406e got terrible mpg.I personally think all these new emission engines suck